Ubisoft is bringing a ton of changes in Operation Tenfold Pursuit which will majorly upgrade the attacking operator pool. From a Thatcher rework to improvements in Thermite, Hibana, and Maverick's gadgets and loadouts, the majority of attackers will be pretty happy... except for Ace.
Five weeks ago, in the Y10S3.3 Designer's Notes, Ubisoft revealed that Ace's pick rate was 45% despite having a ban rate slightly above the 70% mark. In other words, Ace was the main option for hard breaching tasks and had overshadowed the rest of his fellow attackers.
To address Ace's extraordinary position in Rainbow Six Siege X, Ubisoft have decided to make Ace a one-speed operator starting from Operation Tenfold Pursuit. At the same time, to compensate this change, Ace will get his own set of stun grenades.
This change will have a major impact in Rainbow Six Siege X attacking lineups, especially considering the Thermite, Hibana, and Maverick buffs that will be released alongside Ace's nerf in Operation Tenfold Pursuit.
Although Ace will become a one-speed operator, his loadout has been improved. The AK-12 hasn't been tweaked, which means he will still be extremely powerful in gun fights against defenders. In fact, considering he will now be able to bring stun grenades, he will become an even more dangerous threat for defenders.
Nevertheless, speed is very important in Rainbow Six Siege X. Other operators with great loadouts like Zofia or Gridlock are rarely seen because of their speed status. Therefore, it's hard to say if this nerf will severely damage Ace's pick rate. We expect it to go down, especially considering Thermite, Hibana, and Maverick's buffs, but, Ace won't become unplayable by any means.
It's also worth mentioning that Ace's speed change comes at a very interesting moment as Ubisoft will release a Testing Ground in January that will allow players to change the operators' speed and health points as they please. This new playlist called Testing Grounds will let players try out potential changes that are on Ubisoft's cards to improve the flow of Siege's games.
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